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The Northern State men used a big second half to help propel itself to a 78-52 win over Dakota State Tuesday night at Wachs Arena. The win improves the Wolves to 5-0 on the season, their first 5-0 start to begin a season since 2011-12.

Seth Bachand recorded his second double-double of the season as he led the Wolves with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Bachand went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field in the game. Darin Peterka added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and also had five boards and a pair of steals. Justin Decker scored a career-high nine points while Skye Warwick and Spencer Pankonin added eight and seven points, respectively.

Northern shot a season-high 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from the floor in the win while holding the Trojans to 37 percent (20-for-54) shooting. NSU held a 44-28 advantage on the boards and also outscored the Trojans 38-18 in points in the paint. The Northern bench contributed 33 points in the win while DSU reserves scored just four.

After leading by just four at the break, 31-27, the Wolves opened the second half on a 17-4 run and took a 48-31 lead with 14:53 left to play. After Dakota State cut the lead down to 12, Northern went on another big run, this time 23-8 and opened up a 27-point lead at 75-48 with a little under three minutes remaining. The Wolves shot 55 percent from the field in the second half while DSU shot just 33 percent.

NSU opens conference play when it next returns to action as MSU Moorhead comes to town Saturday for a 7 p.m. The two teams split both meetings last season with each winning on its home court.